Reminder devices



Dec. 6, 1966 H. WEINER ET AL 3,289,336

REMINDER DEVICES Filed June 18, 1964 INVENTORS, HARRY wx-:lNER HERBERT FmeDMAN PETERY KATz ATTORNEY.

United States 3,289,336 REMINDER DEVECES Harry Weiner, Newburgh, and Herbert Friedman, Scarsdale, NSY., and Peter Katz, Livingston, NJ., assigrlors to General Slicing Machine Company, inc., Walden, NX., a corporation of New York Filed .lune 18, 1964, Ser. No. 376,101 1 Claim. (Cl. 40-117) The present-invention relates to reminder devices.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved electrically-operated automatic reminding device including a calendar which can be marked at any time with suitable notations at the respective positions of chosen dates and means to actuate a signal when each chosen date arrives. lf desired, the divisions of time can be hourly instead of daily.

Another object thereof is to provide a novel and improved reminder device of the character described, which is simple in construction, reasonable in cost, easy to manipulate and efficient in carrying out the purposes for which it is designed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosure proceeds.

For one practice of this invention, the calendar is a tape on which the dates are printed equi-spaced therealong. At each date zone, reminder data can be written in. The tape is associated with two rollers in the manner of a roll of lm in a camera, so it can be wound from one roller onto the other. Also, there is a third roller with a sprocket engaging the tape in equi-spaced perforations therealong and carrying a toothed wheel which is adapted to be given a fraction of a turn once each day by a wheel driven constantly by a one revolution per day motor. This causes the tape to shift one division. This mechanism is housed in a casing having windows to expose the tape at a viewing station and at a write-in station. For each date the signal is to operate, the tape has a specially-positioned hole in the path of a feeler switch which controls the circuit of the signal means. manually punched by a suitable means therefor provided, when a date on which the signal is to operate is at the write-in station. All shafts are connected by a common belt so all the rollers turn together. An external knob on one of the shafts is used to turn the tape to the write-in station and then back again to expose the actual time date at the viewing station. The tape bears against various guide means which support it at both said stations.

As a modiied embodiment, instead of punching a hole, a tape spot is blackened with a conductive coating which in cooperation with two feeler elements, constitute the switch for controlling the signal circuit.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, similar characters of reference indicate cor responding parts in all the views.

FIG. l is a perspective view of a reminder device embodying teachings of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of this device, in which the upper portion of the casing has been broken away to expose the mechanism housed therein.

FIG. 3 is a section taken at line 3--3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows the face of the wheel which is on the motor shaft and the wheel it shifts once a day to advance the tape. The scale of this view is that of the FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the electrical circuit employed in this device.

FIG. 6 is a front view of this device employing conductive spots on the tape instead of the mentioned punched holes.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of the tape having such conductive spots and the twin feelers which serve as part of the switch for the signal control circuit.

A hole is 3,239,336 Patented Dec.. 6, 1966 In the drawing, the numeral 15 designates generally a reminder device whose mechanism is housed in a casing 16 having two spaced inner partitions 1'7, 18 from the front to the back thereof to divide said casing into the three compartments 19, 20 and 21. The intermediate compartment 20 is for the tape 22, its supporting rollers 23, 24, 25 and 26, a hole punching means 27 and a switch means 28. The compartment 19 has an electric clock motor 29 mounted therein, carrying a disc wheel 30 on its main shaft which has a speed of one revolution per day. The compartment 21 houses the drive connections for the rollers 23, 24, 25, which is effected by a common elastic belt 31 which connects the pulleys indicated generally by the numerals 32, 33 and 34', said pulleys in the order mentioned, being on the ends of the shafts 23, 24', 25 of said rollers 23, 24 and 25, respectively. The roller 26 is an idler whose shaft 26 is journalled in the partitions 17, 18. All the other shafts are likewise journalled. The ends of the tape 22 are secured on the rollers 23 and 24 respectively in the manner of a film roll in a camera, so it can be wound from one of said rollers onto the other; said rollers 23, 24 being in the lower section of the casing 16. The rollers 25 and 26 are in the upper section of said casing; the roller 26 being intermediate the rollers 23 and 25. The tape 22, from the roller 24, passes through the hole puncher 27 from where it is guided by a xed plate 3S onto the roller 25, then the tape passes between the switch elements 28', 28, onto the idler roller 26 from where it goes to the roller 23. Said guide 35 serves as a support for the tape at the write-in window 36 in the casing. Said idler 26 supports the tape at the viewing window 37; said windows being cut-outs in the casing wall. In horizontal alignment with said windows, are companion windows 36', 37 which expose dates printed on the tape 22. The casing 16 also has an opening 38 to expose the operating member 39 of the hole puncher 27, a slot 40 through which the disc 30 extends out of the casing and there is a window 41 for the light of the electric bulb 42 to come through.

The tape 22 has equi-spaced holes 43 along its entire length to engage in the manner of a chain, the teeth of the sprocket 44 which Iis on the roller 2S. Also on this roller is a pin-toothed lgear 45 .arranged to be enga-ged by a pin 46 which extends laterally from the disc wheel 3G, whose perimetral lane is divided into twenty-four equal parts where it is marked with the numerals 1-24 consecutively. Each hole 43 determines a lane yacross the tape 22. These lanes are imprinted with the dates of a year in succession, to constitute a calendar to one side of said holes 43, while the blank spaces to the other side of said holes, are reserved for the user to write in some data to serve as `a reminder of matters to be Aattended to on particular days. In the lane of the tape contacted by the switch means 28, a hole 47 is punched in those lines which have been written in as at 4S.

The .roller 25, sprocket 44, pin-toothed gear 45 as well as the pulley 34 and the outer knob 49, are all secured onto the shaft 25. The very en-d portion of end of the shaft 23 which extends into the compartment 21, is reduced -and carries the gear 32 which is rotatably itted thereon. A cupped washer spring Si) is on said shaft 23' tand is held by a nut S1 on the threaded end of said shaft as shown, to bear against the pulley 34 to effect frictional drive of said shaft 23' and allow slippage thereof. The roller 23 is secured on said shaft 23. A similar friction drive arrangement is made for the pulley 33 on the shaft 24 to which the roller 24 is secured. Said belt 31 may be a Istandard rubber O-rinig mounted to drive all three pulleys 32, 33, 34 in the same direction. It is the uneven amounts of tape lengths wound and unwound per turn respectively fromone of the rol- 1ers 23, 24 to the other, that makes it desirable to have said friction drives allowing slippage so the tape would be wound to be taut. An electrical male plug 52 when connected to a power supply outlet, brings the current to the motor 29 and the bulb 4.12 which are in parallel, with the switch 28 interposed in the bulb branch of the circuit as is illustrated in FIG. 5.

When the device is in operation, the tape 22 in the embodiment shown, moves .from off the roller 2.3 onto the roller .26, thence between the switch elements 28', 28 from where it passes over the roller 25 for engagement with the sprocket 44. Then it passes from off the guide 35, through the hole puncher 27 and nally is wound up on the roller 24. The first printed date appearing on the tape at the viewing window 37, is Jan l. The last printed date on the tape to appear at the write-in window 36, is De-c. 3l, or may go into the January of the next year. The tape ends are blank so association with said rollers 23 and 24 will be maintained to accomplish these conditions. Although said rollers are here shown permanently mounted, they may be removable reels which are mounted in associated mechanism in the manner a roll of lm is mounted in a camera.

After the calendar tape 22 is mounted as shown, the knob 49 is turned to bring the dates to the write-in window 36, one at a time. In each such instance, the owner writes in data of which he is to be reminded as at 48 and pushes element 39 inward to punch a hole 47 in the tape 22. Additions of this sort may be made at any time. When the write-in is completed, the knob i9 is turned to bring the 'actual calendar date to the position of the viewing window 37. All this may be done while the 4motor 29 is working. The disc 30 is se-t to indicate the actual time of `day it then is. A graduation mark 55 on the casing 16 may "be such indicator.

Once each day, the pin 46 on the disc wheel 39, will engage the pin-toothed gear 45, thereby causing the sprocket to advance the tape 22 one division so the the next date appears 'at the viewing window 37. This `daily shift of the tape should occur in the early am. ho-urs. Hence, the position of the pin 46 should be on the radial line of said disc wheel which crosses that hour notation 56. Since the distance between the hole punched in the tape yby 27 and the center line of the write-in window 36 is equal to the distance between the point of contact of the switch elements 28', and the center of the viewing window 37, a hole 1.17 punched in the tape 22 when a particular date is at the write-in window 36, will be Iat and admit therethrough the tip of the spring element 28 when said particular date i-s at the viewing window 37. The circuit of the lbulb 42 will be closed and the bulb will be and remain lit for a day, until t-he tape is again shifted so the switch elements will be separated by the adjacent unpierced tape portion. These incidents will occur at each of the holes 47. It is to 'be noted that one of the switch elements is mounted so it is normally insulated from the other.

In the modified embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, th-e switch comprises two spring lingers 57, 57 which bear on the upper surface of the tape 22 for contact with a spot 58 written in at window 66 on the tape, with a soft graphite pencil in each line where reminder data is written in through the window 66). The electrical circuit in FIG. 7 is like that shown in FIG. 5, except that best suited here, is a neon bulb 42'. It is evident that when said spring fingers 57, 57 which are normally insulated from each other, come into cont-act with any conductive spot 58, the circuit of the bulb 42 will be closed and said bulb will glow and continue to do so for one day. The casing of this device- I', may have its Viewing windows 59, 59 at any convenient place in a horizontal line to view the tape 22 and its windows 60, 6th', dit" may be at any convenient place on the casing le in a horizontal line, to constitute the write-in station. The tapes 22 and 22 are identical and of paper which is a dielectric. The conductive spots 58, of course, take the place of the holes f7 in the tape 22 thus no punching device as 27 iS needed in l5.

The tape may 'be for one year, one month, for a Week or any number of days. If the speed of the disc wheel il@ is made to be one revolution per hour, then the device becomes an hourly reminder which would be useful for the program for one day and as a reminder for a dosing program. Instead of dates being printed on the tape as a calendar, the notations would be the hours of the day.

rl'his invention is capable of numerous forms and vari-ous applications without departing from the essential features herein disclosed. It may be used as a reminder of social and business events and matters relating to manufacturing procedures, for example. Gther instances for -use have been mentioned herein. It is therefore intended and desired that the embodiments shown herein shall be deemed merely illustrative and not restrictive and that the patent shall ycover all patentable novelty set forth herein; reference being had to the following claim rather than to the specific description and showings herein to indicate the scope of this invention.

We claimt In a reminder device of the character described, a casing including top and `upright walls, rst, second and third spaced parallel rollers rotatably mounted within said casing, means associating said rollers s-o that upon the rotation of one of them, all of them will rotate; said third roller having a sprocket and a gear secured thereon to turn therewith and its axis being away from the plane of t-he axes of said other rollers, a dielectric tape having a series of equi-spaced holes along the length thereof, each of said holes of said series, determining a traverse zone on said tape; one end of said tape being held on the first roller; the other end of said tape being held on the second roller and an intermediate portion of said tape being on and around a portion of the third roller; teeth of said sprocket being meshed in holes of said series whereby the tape is caused to be moved longitudinally upon rotation of the third roller; said tape being wound on each of said first and second rollers so that -upon rotation of the rollers, said tape will unwind from one and wind up on the other of said rst and second rollers; said tape being taut; said casing having a viewing window in said top wall to expose one traverse zone of the tape and a write-in window in said upright wall to expose and make accessible another of said zones, means positioned .within said casing, supporting said tape adjacent said windows, an electric motor for continuously driving a wheel associated with said motor within the casing; the speed of rotation of said wheel being one revolution per prescribed unit of time, an element extending from said wheel for engaging said gear to make it turn just sufficient t-o advance the tape one zone in a predetermined direction during a comparatively small portion of said unit of time, an electric switch comprising two conductive elements normally insulated from each other, xed in the casing and touching the tape at the same one zone, one Zone at a time, which is at a prescribed distance along the tape measured from and starting with the tape zone at the viewing window, the tape being provided wit-h at least one hole at a predetermined transverse zone spaced from said series of holes; said switch elements being one at each surface of said tape respectively; at least one of said elements resiliently pressing on said tape whereby said elements will contact each other when the last mentioned hole reaches them, a hole puncher means mounted in said casing, for making holes in the tape to allow said switch elements to come into contact therethrough; said hole puncher means having an operating element; said operating element extending through an opening in said upright wall, and mounted for movement along the horizontal; said hole puncher means being associated with the tape so that when it is operated, it will make a hole in a zone in the tape; she distance from the zone in which such hole is punched, measured along the tape to the zoneof the tape at the write-in window, being equal to the distance measured along the tape in the same `direction as from the zone at the switch elements to the zone at the viewing window, and a circuit including an electrically-actuatable signal means; said switch being interposed in said circuit to contro-l the operation of said signal means; said tape having indicia thereon at each of its zones, Iindicating successive units respectively, of said prescribed unit of time.

References Cited by the Examiner UNTED STATES PATENTS 10 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

